Cucumber Salad

Love the tanginess of this dish...
1 cucumber peeled and sliced or diced...your choice
2 roma tomatoes... sliced or diced
1/4 of a red onion sliced thinly , rings don't need to be perfect. I actually make like wedges instead.
1 ripe avocado but still firm, diced.
the juice of 1 lime
1tablespoon of white vinager
1tablespoon of olive oil
fresh ground black pepper
salt to taste
Dressing:
In a small container mix the lime juice, olive oil, vinager, black pepper and salt. Let it sit while you prepare the salad.
Salad
Once all the vegetables are chopped toss in a bowl. Add the avocado last so it won't get mushy. Add the dressing as you are ready to serve the salad...
Hope you enjoy this salad, it is super fresh.

Bell Pepper and Corn Mix

This is very good for a side dish or on top of grill fish or chicken.
1 red bell pepper diced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 yellow or orange bell pepper diced
1/2 medium onion diced
1/2 kernel corn
a pinch of dried basil
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Heat olive oil and add the onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes then add the bell peppers and the basil. Saute until tender but a bit crunchy then add the corn and saute for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot.
It is delicious...try it and let me know if you like my recipe. It is one of our favorites here at home...
ENJOY!

Mushrooms in Tomato Sauce

If you love mushrooms this is for you :
I small box of mushrooms...can use any kind
2-3 roma tomatos
1/2 small yellow onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic diced finely
black ground pepper to taste
salt to taste
cumin to taste
Add a bit of olive oil to a pan and saute the garlic and add the onions and tomatoes. ONce these are soft, add the mushrooms and the black pepper, salt and cumin. Let it simmer for about 25-30 minutes...until water runs dry.
You can serve this dish on top of white steamed rice, as filling for quesadillas or for breakfast as filling of an ommelette...
enjoy.

Beans My Style!

Yeah... I came up with this recipe on my own... Hope you all will like it. It is my hubby's favorite.

1 can of pinto beans or black beans ( we love black beans). You can use your own beans.
1/2 of green bell pepper chopped in medium size cubes
1/2 of red bell pepper chopped in medium size cubes
chopped onions to taste
1-2 tomatoes chopped in medium size cubes
cilantro to taste

Heat a bit of cooking oil in a pan and add the peppers, onions and tomatoes. Saute until soft, then add the beans. Cook for about 10-15 minutes. Turn it off. Then add the cilantro and stir . Serve it with steamed rice... it is delicious and very nutritious too!
Enjoy.

Dips

Guacamole
Got some left over packets of parmesan cheese and crashed red peppers from your pizza delivery, here is how you can use them.

2-3 ripe avocados
Juice of 1 lime
crashed dried red peppers ( the ones you get with your pizza)
parmesan cheese
chopped onions
chopped tomatoes
chopped cilantro

Mash the avocados, add the rest of the ingredients and mix. I usually keep one of the avocado seeds and place it in the center of the bowl where the guacamole will be served. As decoration or becasue we believe it will help to keep the guacamole fresh and not turn dark...

Cream Cheese and Chilli Beans Dip
1 pack of cream cheese
1 can of chilli beans
Use a blender to mix both ingredients. Add a bit of water to make it softer if you wish.
It is great for plain potato chips or tortilla chips.

Want to make them spicy? Add some jalapenos peppers to the mix for both dips.

Two Recipes Today

Yesterday was a very busy day. We decided to go to Dana Point to the beach, it was so much fun . Not much cooking done yesterday except for a salsa I made since we had a little picnic. Don't ask me about the name,this is how my mother calls it...
Here is the recipe:

'Lazy' Salsa

3-4 Tomatos ( personally I love Roma). Diced
1 cucumber ( If you have never tried English cucumbers I recommend them to you they are so crunchy). Diced
fresh green chilis ( serranos or jalapenos)
10-12 green onions ( remove the end tails but leave some green)
1/2 can tomato sauce
2-3 limes ( for lime juice)
cilantro
*want extra spicy? add some pickled jalapeno pepper's vinager to the tomato sauce
Dice all the vegetables( except the limes), my mother calls it 'lazy' salsa because we shop it in big chunks and don't really care about the shape. Add the tomato sauce, and the lime juice. Salt to taste. And mixed them all together. Simple, fresh and delicious. Serve it with corn chips or on top of carne asada...

I usually make a big bowl with twice the ingredients here if we are having friends over, it is gone in about 10 minutes!

Apple Pancakes

Got apples in your fridge getting old and wrinkle?
1-2 apples.
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar ( brown sugar is better but I use whatever I have in the kitchen)

Peelep apples and dice them. Remove the core. In a saucepan, add 3 cups of water, apples, cinnamon and sugar. Boiled them at a slow heat until water gets thick.
You can either add some of the mixture to pancake batter or use it as a topping to your pancakes. It is also good on top of vanilla ice cream .

Have a great day!!!

One Healthy-Easy-Cheap Dish a Day

Hi all,
Here is my new blog, not much going on lately except more laundry and cooking and cleaning but can't complain. Today I have decided to share my recipes with all of you. I'm not an expert, never been in cooking school, and I'm not a nutritionist; but I'm a mom concerned about my family having healthy meals, love cooking and most of all with these difficult times it doesn't hurt to save a little or a lot!
Here is my 1st recipe, I promise to bring you at least one recipe a day God permits...and if my children and husband are not causing chaos in my kitchen :). And BTW, like many of you I don't measure ingredients that is such a waste of time especially with my busy schedule. Trust your instincts and have fun in your kitchen!
Got left over steam rice??? here is something simple and economically wonderful to cook as a side dish:

Oregano/Corn/Cilantro Rice

2-4 cups of cooked steam rice ( white or brown) *I personally love basmati rice, smells so delicious
1 tbs ( tablespoon) of dried oregano, crushed
2-3 tbs butter ( love country crock myself)
1 cup of kernel corn, drained
cilantro

Steps:
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add oregano y simmer for about 5 minutes. Add corn and simmer for another 3 minutes then add rice. Toss gently so the rice will remain whole and leave on heat for about 5-6 minutes. Once is hot, add the cilantro, you can chop it but not finely or just add it as is. Stir a little and turn it off!!! Easy, quick and cheap. And best of all, it will help you get rid of any left-over rice, this is why I love this recipe. My husband prefers it as a side of tilapia or grilled chicken.
Enjoy...
Your feedback is appreciated and I'm always open to suggestions to improve my recipes

365 Days Staying Home

Hello. Who am I? I guess I should begin by introducing myself, my name is Miroslava and as a 363 days ago became ( by choice) a stay home mom aka, SAHM as known in all the multiple internet portals that I have joined since then. In just two days, I wil be celebrating a year of enjoying the wonderful gift of life that is raising my two sons and cooking an cleaning and doing all that over and over again.
When I decided to renounce the hectic workforce I figured life at home would be a lot less stressful than running dozens of corporate meetings a week. Well, newsflash, planning and discussing work issues wasn't that bad after all. Don't get me wrong, being at home has been a blessing but it doesn't take away the incredible level of responsibility that has come to rest on my shoulders.
When I sit in front of the television set ( which doesn't happen very often especially when a 3 year old demands to watch Dora 24/7) watching shows such as Desperate Housewives or the many reality shows about 'moms' running their homes it makes me realize that being a housewife isn't as glamorous as they picture it. My youngest son was born just 5 months ago and seriously since then brushing my hair or even my teeth are no longer my first priority.
Long seem those days where my dreams of becoming a powerful woman taking over the corporate world filled my entire morning while sipping on my non fat grande caramel macchiato.
Do I miss the I who throve over 12 months ago before I submitted my resignation? Yes I do... and perhaps to my own dissapointment I miss it every single day. Don't regret the decision buy miss my old self.
On the other hand, being a SAHM has given me so many other satisfactions. I have seen my almost-three year old son blossomed into a such little man himself, I've been there for him while he mastered his ABC's. He can even count to 30! I'm proud of him , can't deny that. Also, this past year, after a rollercoster of a pregnacy our second son arrived last March...3 weeks early!
Being a mom is perhaps the greatest gift nature ( or God, whichever you choose to believe in)has given to women. And I plan to enjoy it.
So, how should I celebrate the decision of leaving the power woman behind to embrace the mommy of today? I still don't know but look forward to another year full of potty training tips, diaper changes, breastfeeding, late night cries, and most of all our home cooked family meals.